U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., a former intelligence officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves, is backing a slate of bipartisan bills to protect the country’s national interests when foreign companies or entities seek to buy critical land in the U.S.
Goodlander said she’s been closely following the purchase of a large commercial building in Nashua by a subsidiary of Nongfu Spring, the largest bottled water producer in China that’s owned by that country’s richest man.
She sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in his capacity as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) calling for a retroactive review of the $67 million purchase.
The bills Goodlander backs would ban the purchase of agricultural land by the government of China and other foreign adversaries and expand the CFIUS review of all land transactions of more than 320 acres or tracts that cost at least $5 million.
Gov. Ayotte said she continues to monitor the matter and pushed back on Nashua Mayor James Donchess who at a Tuesday night forum said it was state “economic development” officials before Ayotte took office that cleared the way for the Chinese purchase.
